Not much has been said so far leading into the Las Vegas race, but it will be the first Nascar events held there since the death of Dan Wheldon. As much as some would like to believe that Nascar and IndyCar are separate, you can’t deny that some will head to the track this week with a black cloud over them. Most notably Danica Patrick and Sam Hornish. That doesn’t mean that others didn’t also share a relationship with Wheldon. It should also be noted that IndyCar will not return to Las Vegas this year, and may not return for quite some time.

Watching Patrick and Hornish this week will be important. Both will look to try to win for Wheldon. There will be no shortage of coverage of Danica Patrick this week, and I would expect a Dan Wheldon tie in here and there. The hype machine is in full force for Danica, and she has yet to prove that it is deserved. When a crash ended her day at Daytona, I was very upset by the announcing. I haven’t seen such blatant favoritism since the last time I watched a WWE event. This is a sport. The announcers should act like it is. Please stop alienating those of us not on the Patrick bandwagon and start calling it down the middle. She did not do anything special last week, nor did she do anything wrong. It was a racing accident. Last week Patrick ran a very mediocre race. Las Vegas could be just the place to finally show why she has a full time ride with one of the best teams in Nationwide.

Entry List and More after the JUMP!

Entry

Car#

Driver

Sponsor

Manu

Owner

1

01

Mike Wallace

G&K Services

12 Chevy

JD Motorsports

2

2

Elliott Sadler

ONE MAIN FINANCIAL

12 Chevy

Richard Childress

3

3

Austin Dillon

AMERICAN ETHANOL

12 Chevy

Richard Childress

4

4

Danny Efland

Danny Efland Racing

12 Chevy

JD Motorsports

5

6

Ricky Stenhouse Jr

Roush Fenway Racing

12 Ford

Roush Fenway

6

7

Danica Patrick

GoDaddy.com

12 Chevy

JR Motorsports

7

08

Tim Andrews

TBA

12 Ford

Randy Hill

8

09

Kenny Wallace

TBA

12 Toyota

RAB Racing

9

10

Jeff Green (S)

TBD

12 Toyota

TriStar Motorsports

10

11

Brian Scott

Dollar General

11 Toyota

Joe Gibbs Racing

11

12

Sam Hornish Jr

Alliance Truck Parts

12 Dodge

Penske Racing South

12

13

Jennifer Jo Cobb(i)

Glen Leiner

11 Dodge

Jennifer Jo Cobb

13

14

Eric McClure

Hefty Black Out / Reynolds Wrap

12 Toyota

TriStar Motorsports

14

18

Mark Martin(i)

Interstate

11 Toyota

Joe Gibbs Racing

15

19

Tayler Malsam

G-Oil

12 Toyota

TriStar Motorsports

16

22

Brad Keselowski(i) [PC1]

Discount Tire

12 Dodge

Penske Racing South

17

23

Robert Richardson Jr

NTX Pipe-Riviera Hotel

12 Chevy

R3 Motorsports

18

24

Benny Gordon

Revita Anti-Aging , VSI,

12 Toyota

SC2 Motorsports

19

27

TBA

GCMI

12 Ford

Steve Meehan

20

28

J J Yeley(i)

TBA

12 Chevy

Jay Robinson

21

30

James Buescher(i)

TBA

12 Chevy

Turner Motorsports

22

31

Justin Allgaier

Brandt

12 Chevy

Turner Motorsports

23

33

Brendan Gaughan(i)

SOUTH POINT CASINO

12 Chevy

Richard Childress

24

38

Kasey Kahne(i)

Great Clips

12 Chevy

Turner Motorsports

25

39

Joey Gase

Go Green Racing

12 Ford

Go Green Racing

26

40

Erik Darnell

TBA

12 Chevy

The Motorsports Group

27

41

Blake Koch

Poynt.com

12 Ford

Rick Ware Racing

28

42

Josh Wise(i) (S)

TBA

12 Chevy

The Motorsports Group

29

43

Michael Annett

Pilot/Flying J

12 Ford

Richard Petty

30

44

Mike Bliss

TBA

12 Toyota

TriStar Motorsports

31

46

Chase Miller (S)

TBA

12 Chevy

The Motorsports Group

32

47

Scott Speed(i) (S)

TBA

12 Chevy

The Motorsports Group

33

50

T J Bell

Turbine Powered Technology

12 Chevy

MAKE Motorsports

34

51

Jeremy Clements

Clements Automotive

10 Chevy

Jeremy Clements

35

52

Tim Schendel

All Sports Tailgating

12 Chevy

Jimmy Means

36

54

Kyle Busch(i) [PC2]

Monster Energy

12 Toyota

Kyle Busch

37

60

Trevor Bayne

Roush Fenway Racing

12 Ford

Roush Fenway

38

70

Johanna Long

Foretravel

12 Chevy

ML Motorsports

39

74

Mike Harmon

American Heros

12 Chevy

Mike Harmon

40

81

Jason Bowles

American Majority

12 Dodge

MacDonald Motorsports

41

87

Joe Nemechek

AM/FM Energy

12 Toyota

NEMCO

42

88

Cole Whitt

TaxSlayer.com

12 Chevy

JR Motorsports

43

89

Morgan Shepherd

Victory in Jesus Racing

11 Chevy

Faith Motorsports

(S) Known Start and Park

(i) Not Running For Title

(PC) Past Champion

43 cars are entered, so I will not have to say “So and So must qualify on time” this week:

#2- Elliott Sadler, fresh of his first win in the Nationwide Series in over a decade, will not be running in the Sprint Cup series for Michael Waltrip due to RCR’s heavy Chevy ties.

#15- The team is not entered this week, meaning that the #41 team is by itself this week.

#18- Mark Martin will make his first start for Joe Gibbs Racing this week. Martin, who joined Michael Waltrip Racing this season, Will be a favorite to win this weekend. He is alone but for Brian Scott, as the #20 team is not entered this week.

#33- Brendan Gaughan returns to the Nationwide Series this week driving for Richard Childress Racing. He is running double duty and double paint schemes. Both cars will be the South Point black and Gold #33 Chevy.

#40- Looks like Erik Darnell will be the full time driver this week. Josh Wise moves to the #42 team to start and park this week.

#81- It may be a Dodge front end, but it’s riding on a Toyota frame with a TRD Engine inside. Jason Bowles will make the switch to Toyota very soon, but the team has yet to get the body switched over to a Camry. Dodge is really hurting now. Penske will move on to Ford in 2013, and now they are losing other teams as well. This may be the end of Dodge in Nascar.

Well, are you ready? Tune into ESPN 2, Live this Saturday at 5pm eastern for the Running of the Sam’s Town 300 from Las Vegas, NV. Don’t forget to come back for the Open Race thread. Enjoy!

Now that we've seen some of the "static" scenes from the 2012 March Meet, as well as Larry's view of the on-track madness, I want to go through and post one more batch of my own observations from the big event….(read more)

Mobile, Ala. - Grant Enfinger is living proof that you can always go back home.

Having started his career at Mobile International Speedway, site of this Saturday’s inaugural ARCA/Mobile 200, Enfinger still calls Mobile home. He’s spent the last two seasons competing in ARCA and NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series, but Mobile still holds a special place in Enfinger’s heart.

“I’m really excited about coming back to Mobile,” Enfinger said. “I may have been the most excited driver about hearing the rumors a few years ago. I’m glad I have a ride and the opportunity to make this happen. I can’t wait to show the ARCA world this wonderful facility and hopefully we can go out there and win this thing.”

Enfinger returns to Mobile as the driver of the Bragg Racing Group #82 Ford Fusion and may have the best shot at capturing Mobile’s first ARCA trophy. This is the same team that powered Enfinger to a 12th place in finish in last month’s Truck Series NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway.

“This is the best group of guys I’ve ever been with,” Enfinger said. “I feel like we have a really good shot at winning the ARCA/Mobile 200. Josh Bragg is a really good crew chief and I feel like I have enough experience at the Speedway to really make a difference.”

Most of that experience at Mobile International Speedway came in a super late model, a completely different car than those featured in the ARCA Racing Series. ARCA cars feature an extra 1,000 horsepower and 1,000 pounds compared to super late models.

Enfinger successfully made the transition from late models to the ARCA Series, winning the pole and finishing fourth at Berlin Speedway in July. Enfinger ran the full-season in 2011, ranking fourth in the final standings, finishing behind heavy-hitters Ty Dillon, Chris Buescher and Frank Kimmel.

It’s that level of experience that Enfinger hopes will propel him to victory on Saturday. The track is the same and the cars are familiar – but the same could be said for other Mobile Speedway veterans including Cale Gale, Chase Elliott and Bubba Pollard. While Enfinger would like to hoist the trophy, he feels that it’s important for the familiar faces to have a strong showing.

“I think Bubba has the best shot out of all the local guys,” Enfinger said. “But I think you have to consider Cale Gale too. He’s with a team in Eddie Sharp Racing that has support from Richard Childress Racing and has won championships at the highest level. Gale knows his way around Mobile and he’s bringing a strong team to the Speedway – it’s a perfect match for Saturday’s race.”

But don’t let the humility fool you – Grant Enfinger is in a great position to win the ARCA/Mobile 200 – and he knows it.

“I feel like we’re bringing a good piece to Mobile,” Enfinger said. “We have big expectations and I’m hoping we win. It would be a big deal for a local guy to show these ARCA boys what it’s all about here in Mobile.”

Practice will begin at 1:30 p.m. Central on Friday, March 9, and will last for three and a half hours. Qualifying will follow, starting at 7 p.m. The 200-lap, 100-mile Mobile ARCA 200 will start at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 10.

NASCAR Ranting and Raving content editor Matt Weaver will be live on-site at Mobile International Speedway and will post live updates to Twitter @MattWeaverSBN.

Mobile, Ala. - Chase Elliott is set to make his ARCA Series debut for Bill Elliott Racing on Saturday at Mobile International Speedway.

Elliott believes he can contend in the ARCA/Mobile 200, the second race of ARCA’s 60th Anniversary Season.

“I don’t really see why there’d be any reason we can’t run in the top five or 10,” Elliott said. “I really feel like we’re capable of doing that. Obviously, this will be my first race as a driver and things are going to be different, but I think if we adapt well, I don’t see any reason why we can’t run inside the top 10.”

The highly-touted 16-year-old is a veteran of Mobile and is the 2010 Mobile International Speedway late model track champion. Mobile is the first of five ARCA races for Elliott and his team is spearheaded by Hendrick Motorsports crew chief, Lance McGrew.

“I think it’s going to be an interesting race, for sure,” he said. “The cars that I’ve raced there are light cars, but these ARCA cars are heavy. It’s a heavy stock car. We’ll see how it goes. I kind of have a feel of what the race track is like. I’m sure there’s going to be differences between driving a late model car and driving an ARCA car.

“It’s a very unique place, obviously, with no walls except for on the front straightaway. It’s different looking, and has a different feel. It’s the kind of race track you’re not used to seeing. Most places you go, you have the wall to kind of catch you. It’s just different. All that plays into the feel of a race track. It’s really smooth in (Turns) 3 and 4, and there are a few bumps in 1 and 2.”

Practice will begin at 1:30 p.m. Central on Friday, March 9, and will last for three and a half hours. Qualifying will follow, starting at 7 p.m. The 200-lap, 100-mile Mobile ARCA 200 will start at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 10.

NASCAR Ranting and Raving content editor Matt Weaver will be live on-site at Mobile International Speedway and will post live updates to Twitter @MattWeaverSBN.